Love shines as Cavs thump Grizzlies, win 4th straight
The Memphis Grizzlies didn't resemble a Western Conference powerhouse against the Cleveland Cavaliers on Wednesday night.
Cleveland took a 13-point lead into the half and didn't look back, using an all-around effort to down the Grizzlies 111-89 and extend its winning streak to four games.
All five of the Cavaliers' starters scored in double figures, led by Kyrie Irving, who dropped a game-high 24 points. LeBron James added 20, eight rebounds and five assists, while the third part of the team's three-headed monster, Kevin Love, chipped in with 22 and 10 rebounds for his 36th double-double of the season.
Love, Irving and James each scored 20-plus points in the same game for the eighth time this season. Cleveland is 7-1 in those contests.
The win kept the Cavaliers, the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference, three games ahead of the Chicago Bulls for first place in the Central Division.
Memphis, one of the NBA's best teams at home, looked anything like it. Its 22-point loss was its largest deficit at home this season. The Grizzlies were out-rebounded by 17 and shot 23.5 percent from beyond the arc, while the Cavaliers nailed 14 3-pointers and converted at a 41.2-percent clip.
It marked Memphis's worst home defeat since losing by 26 to the Golden State Warriors in December 2013.
The Grizzlies, who have continually held off pressure in the Southwest Division - the NBA's best - all season, watched their lead over the Houston Rockets slip to 1.5 games. Houston used a 25-point effort from James Harden in Dwight Howard's return to edge the New Orleans Pelicans, 95-93.
Cleveland will look to make it five in a row Friday when it visits the playoff-hopeful Brooklyn Nets.